Back to Articles

   Back to Home

Give Me Liberty

or Give me Death

     How did this happen? How did we get our freedom?

     I think we forget.

     During “peacetime” we have a tendency to get slack. We get lazy. We begin to take our freedoms for granted.

     My wife and I own an art gallery in southern Florida. It was only a month after 9/11 that we began to overhear some of our customers complaining about all the flag waving.

     How soon we forget.

     A high price was paid by our forefathers who were willing in some cases to give up their lives for what they believed in. To give up their lives for us.

     Can you imagine? People willing to sacrifice their lives for something good? That almost seems like an episode from the Twilight Zone. 

     The Revolutionary War was fought by people that believed in being free from oppression and excessive taxation from the British Empire. The Declaration of Independence and our Constitution reflect our founding fathers’ ideals of freedom and liberty.    

     Patrick Henry said this about the Constitution;  "The Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain the people, it is an instrument for the people to restrain the government - lest it come to dominate our lives and interests."

     Today we’re in danger of falling back into the government dominating our lives and taking away our freedoms. We have to fight back.

     General Schwarzkopf (of Gulf War fame) was once asked by a reporter what he felt about war protestors. He replied, “That doesn’t bother me, that’s what makes our country great! That people can speak their mind without being afraid of being arrested.”

     That is what makes our country great. We can fight by voicing our opinions and getting involved in the political debates of the day.   

     Hopefully we will never have an all out war again on our soil like our forefathers did. We should be smart enough by now to war through debate and not through military warfare. War is hell. But there are times when the circumstances make it necessary.

     Most would agree that it was necessary to go to war during WW II. Tom Brokaw called the WW II generation, “the greatest generation” and I think he was right. When they were practically teenagers, they went out and saved the world from genocide and tyranny. And if that wasn’t enough they came back and built our country into the greatest nation in history! We owe a great debt of gratitude to the WW II generation.

     After WW II, we came along—the baby boomers. Our experience with war was very different. We had Viet Nam. Unlike WW II the Viet Nam war was a mess. There was no national consensus on why we were there. The politics of the day and the media fanned the flames of confusion and made things worse. So we ended up with over 50,000 Americans dead. For what?

     Our generation came up with songs like, “War, what is it good for, absolutely nothing!” Which reflected the sentiments of many who lived during the 60‘s.

     OK, so Viet Nam was not a war we should have gotten involved with, or at the very least it should have been handled differently. But there is a time when we have to use our military to fight for what is right and for what we believe in.

     I believe it was right to fight for our freedom in the War of Independence.

     I believe it was right for us to fight in WW II.

     Today, I believe it is right to fight the war on terror. If we don’t take it to them, they’ll bring it to us, which 9/11 proved. Some believe 9/11 to be the opening volley of WW III and they may very well be proven to be right.

     President Bush did what needed to be done after 9/11. He took the fight to the terrorists and saved our country. If we come together as a nation and support the war on terror this doesn’t have to end up in WW III. We can end this now!

     We have a responsibility to those who have sacrificed their lives for us to continue fighting in any way we can. We must fight to keep our freedom so we can pass it on to those who will come after us.

     And that’s my message to my fellow baby boomers. We must wake up out of our slumber of peace and prosperity and remember how we got here. Remember what it took to make this great nation we live in.

     We baby boomers rose up in the 60’s and fought against the social ills of the day. We were effective in bringing change, some good and some bad.

     The good was—we brought an end to the tragedy of the Viet Nam War. We brought the light of truth to shine more brightly on areas of racial prejudice and discrimination and abuse of women.

     The bad was—we rebelled against the Judeo Christian morality our society was based on and the family centered culture we were brought up in. We embraced the morality of spiritual giants like Hugh Hefner and Larry Flint. In so doing we paved the way for what we have today—a society that teaches its children to go out and have fun, be “gay”. Have sex with anyone, anyhow, anyway, however you like, and as many times as you like. We will provide you with condoms and abortions which on the surface will appear to protect you and keep you safe. But all the while we know you’re really playing Russian roulette. And we’re neglecting to warn you of the much greater dangers of the emotional, spiritual, and relational trauma and devastation that result from such lifestyles and behavior.

     And why did we do this?

     At first we just wanted to have our own sexual cake and eat it too, without thinking about any consequences to our behavior. Later on though, there became too many people, making too much money, that had built their livelihoods around businesses catering to the “new” morality. Pornography and abortion being the two businesses that profit the most.

     Pornography has become one of the most lucrative businesses in all history. So lucrative it pays off millions to elected officials to turn the other way so they can continue to pour out their filth.

     Abortion is the sister industry to pornography. It portrays itself as providing women with a fundamental right, the “right to choose”. In so doing it has led women to choose to destroy tens of millions of the born and unborn women they profess to be helping.

     We must fight back and regain what we’ve lost. We still can be one of the greatest nations ever. But like our forefathers before us, we have to fight for our freedoms. We have to fight for what is right, or we’re going to lose what has been handed down to us!

     Ben Franklin said, “the pen is mightier than the sword.”

     We don’t have to join the military to fight for what we believe in. The written word is more powerful and can do more to effect social change than fighting in war. And the spoken word makes the written word come alive! “For the Word of God is quick, and sharper than any double edged sword, able to divide asunder between soul and spirit” (the Bible).

     It’s time for us to stand up and speak the truth. To speak what’s in our hearts. To fight for our freedoms. To take back our country from the godless and those who would flush America down the immorality toilet. It’s time to break off the chains put on us by those who would enslave us to their ideology of death and destruction.

     Don’t be enchained by those who preach against hate—                                               

                                                but hate those who preach against sin.

     Don’t be enchained by the extreme “non-extremists”—                                                 

                                                who come in the name of truth—

                                                but speak only lies.

     Don’t be enchained by those who choose to kill those—

                                                who are too little to choose to live.

     Don’t be enchained by those who say evil is good and good is evil.

     Don’t be enchained by the heterophobes and the intolerant “tolerants”.

     Don’t be enchained by the pornographers, the self-serving politicians, and the godless media.  

     These are wandering stars, autumn trees without fruit, springs without water, clouds without rain, hidden reefs, who sit in your love feasts without fear. They are the living dead, real live zombies, enticing the young and naïve by arrogant words of vanity. Promising them freedom but being themselves enchained by lust—for whom the outer darkness has been reserved forever (paraphrase of II Peter 2:17-19; Jude 12, 13).

                   “Is life so dear or peace so sweet as to be

                    purchased at the price of chains and slavery? God

                    forbid! I know not what course others may take,

                    but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death!”

                    (Patrick Henry).

     It’s time to stand up and fight!

     It’s time to stand up and fight for what we believe in.

     It’s time to stand up and fight for our children, for our families and for our country!!

     Let’s speak out what’s in our hearts!

     It’s time!

     God bless you  ¾  and God bless America!
 

       ©copyright 2007 Michael J. Silberg